The Book Of Genesis
by dumbledearme
Summary: "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother..." (Genesis 32:11) Being a Winchester was no easy task. Brother and sister had been raised like warriors, without a mother, into a world that there was no escaping from. All they could do to survive was to stay together. - female Dean - First part of the "In The Land Of Gods And Monsters" series -
1. In The Beginning

**I know, I know, and I am so, so, so terribly sorry! I should not be starting yet another series! God damn me! But oh, well, what can I do? I watch like a little piece of something and go WHAM. There is no stopping me. So I guess we should just enjoy. And remember I do not own anything.**

...

" _And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls..._ " (Genesis 46:27)

Memories were a darn sad thing. Dani hated remembering. Breaking and entering had been real easy. The night was very dark and she could be very silent when she tried to. But once inside, the feelings of dread she had been avoiding took over her. Four years since she had last seen him, hadn't been? And how did she miss him. But Dani wouldn't be telling him that. She would only tell him what was necessary to convince him to go with her. She needed him, though she wouldn't be telling him that either.

Oh, but the memories. Dani could relive that night, that horrible night, as if she was still there. She had revisited the memory a hundred times, trying to understand why or how, but nothing came to her. And when she had had enough, she had tried to block the memories, but discovered it to be impossible. She could fight them off during the days, pretend everything was fine, but they would come during the night and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

Her mother, beautiful Mary. They said she looked exactly like her. Maybe that was why Dani hated herself so much.

"Take your brother outside and run as fast as you can! Go, Dani, go!" Dad shouted handing her the bundle of blankets that was Sam. He weighted more than it was expected for such a little baby, but Dani assumed it was because she was so small herself. Yet she ran, descended the stairs as carefully as she could, afraid to drop him, afraid to do something wrong, to be a disappointment. Little did she know that those were all the wrong fears she should be experiencing. Little did she know her mother was inside that house burning on the ceiling because of some yellow eyed demon that would forever haunt Dani's dreams.

She tripped on something that felt on the ground with a soft thud. An umbrella stand. Why in seven hells Sam had a stupid umbrella stand Dani could not figure. But she knew he would've heard the noise and would be coming to investigate. Well, all the better. Now she had no other choice but to face him. There would be no running, no changing her mind.

Dani waited in the dark for him. She heard him coming before she saw him. The floorboards creaked as he moved swiftly ready to strike however it was. Of course he would be prepared for a fight. He was a Winchester after all. Dani tried to move forward as if to greet him when Sam lunged toward her. He moved his arm to hit her head, but Dani had had the same training as he did. She grabbed his arm and twisted pushing him away. Sam came back with a kick she had to dodge. A little too excited about the exchange, Dani hit him in the face. Nothing hard, nothing damaging, just enough to put him in his guard.

Angry, Sam charged toward her like she knew he would, and Dani grabbed his shirt and shoved him down on the floor. He moaned as she pinned him down with her legs and arms. "Easy tiger," she teased knowing it was time to say something. A streak of moonlight washed the room and Dani was able to see the recognition on her brother's face.

"Dani?" Sam exclaimed. Dani chuckled as he breathed heavily. She had missed him indeed.

"You scared the crap out of me," he confessed.

"That's 'cause you're out of practice," she pointed out, cockily. Just to prove her wrong, Sam eased his hand out of her grasp and lunged forward one last time pushing Dani down. Her back hit the ground but she couldn't help but laugh. "Or not. Now, get off me."

Sam stood and pulled Dani with him. He was so much taller than the last time she had seen him. And her boots had very high heels.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked, not unkindly, as Dani brushed herself off.

"Well, I was looking for a beer," she lied trying to avoid the real reason. She knew this moment wouldn't last, could not last, but she wanted to prolong it.

But Sam would have none of it. "What the hell are you doing here?" he repeated and this time he meant business.

She sighed. "Okay, all right, we gotta talk," she started.

"Uh, the phone?" he offered.

"If I'd have called, would you have picked up?"

Sam didn't answer. He didn't have to. Both of them knew the truth.

"Sam?" a third voice called in the dark. Before any of them could say anything else, the light flickered on and brother and sister turned to find a young woman standing there wearing a pink pajamas short and a gray Smurfs T-shirt that showed her navel. Dani felt her eyebrow going up.

Sam inhaled sharply. "Jess... Hey." He glanced nervously from one girl to the other. "Uh, Dani, this is my girlfriend, Jessica."

Jess smiled. "Your sister?" she asked and Dani found strange the note of eagerness in her voice. She was very pretty, his girlfriend, but of very little interest to Dani.

"Charming," said Dani eyeing the Smurfs T-shirt. That made the girl self conscious.

"Just let me put something on."

"Don't bother," said Dani dismissively. "I hate to ask, but I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business but, uh, nice meeting you."

"No," said Sam with authority. He walked to her side and both stared at Dani. "Whatever you wanna say, you can say in front of her."

Dani grinned. Of course he would say that. He had no idea. But Dani was absolutely sure he would change his mind once she started. "Okay. Um... dad hasn't been home in a few days," she said trying to get round what really needed to be said.

Sam shrugged. "So he's working over-time on a 'Miller Time' shift; he'll stumble back in sooner or later."

Dani gave her best condescending look. "Dad's on a _hunting_ trip," she tried this time, "and he hasn't been home in a few days." That got his attention all right.

Sam hesitated and Jess or whatever her name was stared at him with knitted eyebrows. He didn't look at her this time. "Jess, excuse us, please," he said. "We have to go outside."

The girl let them go without a word which Sam seemed to be glad for. On the way out, he started his teenage tantrum. "You can't just break in, in the middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you."

"You're not hearing me, Sammy," she insisted. "Dad's missing. I need you to help me find him," she admitted.

"You remember the poltergeist in Amherst, or the devil's gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He is always missing and he is always fine."

"Not for this long. Are you gonna come with me or not?"

"I'm not," he answered shortly.

That hurt. She had prepared herself for this kind of rejection, but still it hurt. She shifted her weight to her right leg and put her hands inside her leather jacket's pocket. "Why not?"

He looked at her as if she was crazy. "I swore I was done hunting. For good."

Dani grimaced. "Come on! It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad."

He didn't like that. "Oh, yeah? When I told dad I was scared of the thing in my closet he gave me a .45."

Dani tried to look cool. "Well, what was he supposed to do?"

"I was nine years old," continued Sam. "He was supposed to say 'Don't be afraid of the dark. I won't let anything hurt you.'"

Dani _pff_ ed. "'Don't be afraid of the dark?' Are you kidding me? Of course you should be afraid of the dark! You know what's out there!"

Sam sighed. "Yes, I know. But still – the way we grew up after mom was killed... And dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her... But we still haven't found the damn thing, so we kill everything we can find. This endless journey-"

"We save a lot of people, Sam."

"You think mom would've wanted this for us?"

Dani clutched her fists inside her pockets. She hated whenever her mother was brought into the conversation, especially when she was used against Dani to prove a point. Dani didn't know what she mother would've wanted because a monster had taken her away. And said monster had to pay.

"The weapon training? Melting silver into bullets?" continued Sam. "We were raised like warriors."

"So, what are you gonna do?" she snapped. Sam always took her to the edge. "You just gonna live some normal life? Pretend you don't know what is going on in the world? Pretend you don't care? Is that it?"

"Not normal," he argued, but this time his voice was soft. "Safe."

Dani scoffed. "Is that why you ran away, Sam? To be safe with your girlfriend?"

"I was just going to college," the boy said annoyed. "It was dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing."

Dani tried to keep her cool. The fighting between Sam and dad had always existed, but with the years it went from bad to worse. They were both so much alike. Dani thought that was the reason they couldn't stop hitting heads.

"Dad's in real trouble, Sam, if he's not dead already. I... I can't do this alone."

It was Sam's time to raise an eyebrow. "Yes, you can."

Dani crossed her arms. Her voice was almost a whisper. "Well, I don't want to."

Sam sighed once more and Dani knew the battle was won. "What was he hunting?"

Smiling, Dani walked all the way to where she had parked the Impala. The car was her baby. She didn't know why, maybe it was the fact that she had been raised surrounded by men, but Dani had always had a thing for cars. Since very young she had begged her dad to teach her how to drive the Impala. It took him a long time to say yes. But after Sam left, he became more affectionate, as if afraid to lose her to. Silly man. There was nothing in this world that could part her from him.

Dani opened the car's trunk where they kept their great amass of weapons. She propped up the lid of the extra compartment and searched past the weapons. "Where the hell did I put that thing?" she muttered to herself.

"When dad left, why didn't you go with him?" asked Sam.

"I was doing my own gig," she answered. "This voodoo thing down in New Orleans."

"Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?" Sam said with disbelief.

Finding what she was looking for, Dani pulled a bunch of papers out of the book she had in hand and turned to face Sam, almost offended. "I'm 26, dude. So, here we go. So dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop outside of Jericho, right? About a month ago, this guy," – she handed Sam a picture of the man –, "they found his car but he'd vanished, completely M.I.A."

"Maybe he was kidnapped," said Sam, always the one for logic.

"Yeah, well, there's another one in April," continued Dani handing him articles to prove her point. "Another one in December, '04, '03, '98, '92. Ten of them over the past twenty years. All men, all same 5-mile stretch of road. It started happening more and more, so dad went to go dig around," she finished. "That was about three weeks ago. I hadn't heard from him since, which is bad enough," she rummaged through the weapons once more and pulled out a tape recorder, "then I get this voicemail yesterday."

She hit play. Through the static, their dad's voice said, 'Dani, something is starting to happen, I think it's serious. I need to try to figure out what's going on.' There was more and more static coming through, drowning out his voice, but his last sentence was clear enough: 'Be very careful, Dani. We're all in danger.'

Dani shut off he recorder and stared at her brother.

"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam stated.

She smiled. "Not bad, Sammy. Kind of like riding a bike, isn't it? I slowed the message down, and ran it through a Gold Wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got." She played the recording again, but what came through this time was different. Now it was a woman's voice whispering, 'I can never go home.'

"Never go home," Sam repeated. Dani could almost see the thousand possibilities going through his mind. Well, he was the smart one.

"Yes, very dramatic, ain't it?" She threw the recorder back into the trunk and shut it. Then she leaned against it. "Sammy," she started, "in all this time, I haven't bothered you. Never asked you for a thing."

Sam raised a hand to stop her. "No need to beg. I'll go. I'll help you find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday."

"What's first thing Monday?" Dani asked frowning. It was dark, but she thought she saw him blush.

"I have this... I have an interview."

"Like a job interview?" she said. "Skip it."

"It's a law-school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate."

"Law school?" she laughed. She stopped when she saw his expression. All right, if he wanted to play Mr Lawyer that was his problem.

"We got a deal or not?" asked Sam always wanting to have the last word.

"Oh, yeah," said Dani. She knew a thing of two about last words.


	2. Do Not So Wickedly

_"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:27)_

They arrived at the bridge around noon and to their surprise there were police cars parked all around it. Dani drove closer. She pulled the car to a stop and leaned over Sam into the glove compartment from where she pulled out a box full of fake ID's. Searching through them, she finally pulled two out and chucked one to Sam with a wide grin on her face.

"Let's go."

Dani jumped out of the car, Sam right behind her. She walked up to the police officers, acting like she belong there.

"No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints," one of the policeman was saying from inside a car that seemed to belong to nobody. "Spotless, it's almost too clean."

"This kid, Troy," said the other police officer, "he's dating your daughter, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"How is she doing?"

"Amy's putting up missing posters downtown," the officer shrugged as if he knew the act was pointless.

Dani perked up her breasts and cleared her throat. "You fella's had another one just like this last month, didn't ya?" She stride confidently up to them with Sam following a couple of paces behind.

"Who are you?" the first policeman asked, turning to face them. In response, Dani flipped open her fake ID to reveal the badge.

"Federal Marshals," she said fiercely.

The policeman frowned studying Dani from top to bottom. "You guys are a little young for Marshals, aren't you?"

She almost faltered. She wasn't dressed for that, she supposed. A simple dark jeans, black high heeled boots, a black T-shirt and the leather jacket she refused to be without. Her blonde hair was loose and tangled. Still, she had enough confidence she thought she could go around all that and play her part flawlessly. "Thank you," she smiled. "That is awfully kind of you. Now, you did have another one just like this, correct?"

"Yeah," said the officer. "About a mile up the road. There have been others before that."

Sam stepped forward. "So this victim... you knew him?"

The policeman nodded. "In a town like this, everybody knows everybody."

"Any connections between the victims besides that they're all men?" Dani asked circling the victim's car.

"No. Not so far as we can tell."

"So what's the theory?" asked Sam following Dani around the car.

"Honestly?" We don't know. Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?"

Dani straightened up. "Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work that I'd expect out of you guys." At that, Sam kicked her shin so hard Dani almost grunted.

"Thank you for your time," said Sam before walking away. Dani followed him. When they got to the Impala, she smacked him across the back of the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Sam exclaimed, clueless.

Dani pointed a finger at him. "You kick me again, I'll slap you 'til you can't stand!"

…...

They found the girl indeed putting up missing posters. She was short and chubby, one of those goth kids that thought they knew so much about death. Her black hair was all tangled and she wore heavy dark make up that made her look at least ten years older.

"You must be Amy," Dani said to her. "Troy told us about you. We're his aunt and uncle. I'm Dani. This is Sammy."

"He never mentioned you to me," said the girl with caution.

Dani shrugged naturally. "That's Troy, I guess."

"We're looking for him, too," Sam butt in. "Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?"

Amy nodded and they entered a diner. The three of them sat on a booth that was out of the way from everyone else. Sam asked about the last time Amy had spoken to Troy.

"Last night," she confessed. "We were talking on the phone. He was driving home. He said he would call me right back, and he never did."

"He didn't say anything strange or out of the ordinary?" asked Sam.

"No. Nothing I can remember."

Dani watched Amy carefully, her attention focusing on the girl's necklace. It was a pentagram hanging on a thick black thread. "I like your necklace," said Dani, nodding toward it.

The girl smiled as if it brought her good memories. She pulled the necklace from her shirt so Dani could see it more clearly. "Troy gave it to me," said Amy. "Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff."

"Actually, it means just the opposite," began Sam. "A pentagram is protection against evil, really powerful. I mean, if you believe in that kind of thing."

"Enough," said Dani. "Next thing he'll be braiding your hair and reading your palm. Here's the deal, Amy. The way Troy disappeared – something's not right. So if you've heard anything..." Amy looked down at her own hands which were shaking. "What? What is it?"

"I... Well, it's just... With all these guys going missing... people talk."

"What do they talk about?" Sam and Dani asked together.

"It's kind of this local legend," said the girl. "This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial like... decades ago. Supposedly, she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up – well, hey disappear forever."

Dani and Sam exchanged a look. There were finally getting somewhere.

…...

Researched took quite sometime. So long, Dani almost gave up and went out to buy pie. But just as she thought it was hopeless, Sam pushed her away, took her place in front of the computer and typed 'Female Suicide Centennial Highway'. This brought up a single result, which was better than what Dani was doing.

"This was 1981," Sam told her. "Constance Welch, 24 years old. Jumped off Sylvania Bridge. Drowned in the river."

"Does it say why she did it?" asked Dani.

Sam kept reading the article. "An hour before they found her, she called 911. Her two little kids were in a bathtub. She left them alone for a minute. When she came back, they weren't breathing."

Dani crossed her arms. That was typical. We couldn't take a minute to ourselves. We needed constant watch upon our loved ones, or something, or someone, would always come along and take them from us.

"'Our babies were gone and Constance just couldn't bare it,' said husband, Joseph Welch." Sam scrolled down and came before a picture of the bridge where they had been earlier.

"Come on, Sam," said Dani. "Let's go sightseeing."

…...

It was already night when they returned to the bridge. They walked around like two crazed cockroaches looking for any clue that could help them but found nothing. Dani looked over the edge of the bridge. She could almost see this girl, this Constance, taking the swan dive. She understood. She sympathized.

"You think dad would have been here?" asked Sam, bringing her back to the present.

"He's chasing the same story and we're chasing him," she said simply. Truth was, she had no idea where their dad was and that was slowly killing her. He was everything to her. Sam could only see the bad parts, but Dani saw the good. John had been father and mother, maybe not all the time, maybe he had to be gone more than he was around, but he had done his best, and his best had been good enough. "We need to keep digging 'til we find him. It might take a while," she said carefully, knowing exactly what he would say.

"Dani, I told you, I've gotta get back by-"

"Monday, yeah, Sammy." She glanced at her brother. "You're really serious about this aren't you? You think you're just gonna become some lawyer? Marry your girl?"

Sam shrugged. "Maybe. Why not?"

"Does _Jessica_ know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

Sam took a step forward. "No. And she's not ever going to know." The tone of warning in his voice made clear he thought Dani might try to tell her. As if.

"Well, that's healthy," she replied. "You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you truly are."

"And who is that?"

"One of us," she opened her arms dramatically as if showing more than just herself.

"No," the boy argued. "I am not like you. This is not going to be my life!"

"We've got a responsibility-"

"To dad and his crusade?" Sam snapped. He was always so sweet with everybody. There were only two people in this world that could make him lose his cool and Dani was proud to be one of them. "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what mom looks like! What difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone, Dani, and she isn't coming back."

Dani hadn't meant to, but next thing she was grabbing her brother by the shirt and pushing him back against the rails. She pressed him back menacingly. "Don't talk about her like that." Her voice came out low and hoarse. More than anything, Dani wanted to hug him, Sam and her dad, she just wanted the three of them to be together again. Why did everybody she loved kept bailing on her?

Dani let go of Sam, ready to walk away before he had the chance to do that to her. That's when she saw her. The woman standing by the edge of the bridge wearing nothing but a white sleeping gown. Black hair covered most of her face and she was barefoot. "Sam," called Dani softly.

The woman looked toward them but they still couldn't see her face; it was too dark. Then she let go of the railing she was holding onto and fell into the water below.

Sam and Dani rushed closer to look down but they found nothing. Then they heard the sound of the Impala starting up. "What the hell...?" began Dani.

"Who's driving your car?" asked Sam.

As an answer, Dani reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys. "No one." They watched as the car, without a driver, headed forward toward them. With no other option, they broke into a run in the opposite direction.

Sam had such long legs he was much faster than Dani. He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward but she almost tripped – the damn high heels. No, this wouldn't do.

Her idea could be a crazy one, but she didn't care. It was her time to lead. Pulling Sam, she turned and ran toward the edge of the bridge and jumped plummeting into the water.

Later, she realized how much smarter Sam was. He jumped after her, but before he could fall he took hold of the railings.

Dani crawled out of the water covered in mud. Smelling like a sewer, she looked up when she heard Sam calling her name. "Are you all right?"

"I'm super," she answer, trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum. She climbed back onto the brigde. Sam was trying not to laugh. She appreciated the effort.

First thing Dani did was check her car. Everything seemed to be in order. Dani stood with her hands on her hips. "That Constance chick," she mumbled. "What a bitch!"

"She doesn't want us digging around, it would seem." Sam went to stand beside her. He inhaled slowly. "You smell like a toilet."

…...

They checked into the closest motel. The man behind the desk eyed them suspiciously. "You smell like a toilet," he felt the need to say.

"Yeah, yeah, I've been told." Dani handed him a credit card.

"You guys having a reunion or something?" inquired the man inspecting the card.

"What do you mean?" asked Sam.

"That other guy, Bert Aframian," he told them. "He came in and rented out a room for the whole month."

Dani gave her brother a smug grin. That was dad all right.

Once they managed to get the guy to tell them what room was 'Bert Aframian' staying in, Sam offered to pick the lock. Inside was the usual mess. The bed was unmade and the walls were covered in pictures and newspaper articles about Constance Welsh and other stuff. An array of weapons and other sorts of strange objects were lain out on the table. There was a circle of salt in the middle of the room.

A smelly hamburger told Dani her father hadn't been here for a least a couple of days.

"Salt, cats-eye shells," mumbled Sam. "He was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in."

Dani walked toward the wall and examined the articles. "Centennial Highway victims. I don't get it. Different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?"

"Okay," said Sam. "Constance is the woman in white. Maybe she has a weakness."

Dani shook her head. "Dad would've found the corpse and destroy it. He would want to make sure. Does anything here say where she was buried?"

"Not that I can tell. If I were dad though, I'd go ask her husband. If he's still alive."

Dani thought that was a valid choice. "All right. You do that. I'm gonna take a shower." She was about to enter the bathroom when he called her.

"I'm sorry," he said kindly. "About what I said earlier. About mom and dad."

Dani didn't have the strength to deal with that right now. The smell was making her eyes water. She raised her hand telling him to stop. "No chick flick moments."

Sam smiled. "Jerk."

"Bitch," she replied walking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

When she was done, Dani announced her hunger to the world and told Sam she would be going out to buy food. Sam said he didn't want anything. Apparently, he was trying to call his girlfriend. Dani rolled her eyes and grabbed her leather jacket.

Outside, she searched around, mainly out of habit. She noticed two cops talking to the man who had checked them in. The guy behind the desk said something to the policeman and then pointed right at Dani. Pretending she hadn't see anything, Dani walked swiftly to the opposite direction. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cellphone to call Sam.

"Dude, five-o take off," she said and hoped he still remembered what it meant. "They're following me. Go find dad."

She hung up just in time. The two police officers asked her to stop. Dani turned around with a bright smile. "Problem, gentlemen?"

"Where's your partner?"

"What partner?" she asked innocently. One of the policeman went to check the motel room. Dani hoped Sam was long gone. The other policeman searched her.

"Fake badge, fake ID, fake credit cards," he said going through her stuff. "You got anything that's real?"

Dani raised an eyebrow. "My boobs."

That was the absolute truth, but the man didn't appreciate it. Seconds later, Dani found herself handcuffed and shoved against the police car. "You have the right to remain silent," the cop started.

Yeah, yeah, she knew. And what a right that was.

…...

The interrogation room was a very familiar place. Dani had been into a million of those. Her hands were cuffed to the table, that was the best they could do to assure themselves she wasn't going anywhere. Poor simple men. How little did they know of the world and how smart they thought themselves to be.

A cop stood opposite to her with a average looking box in front of him. He was around his late fifties, little brown hair left, aggressive features. Nothing extraordinary about him. "You want to give us your real name?" he asked her.

"Tara Nugent," she said promptly. Dani didn't even remember where she had taken that name from. Whatever.

"I'm not sure you realize how much trouble you're in here."

"We talking like misdemeanor kind of trouble?" she asked. "Or... uh, 'squeal like a pig' trouble? The difference is important."

The man crossed his arms unimpressed. "You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall. Along with a whole lot of satanic mumbo jumbo. You are officially a suspect."

"You know what? That makes perfect sense. 'Cause when the first one went missing in '82, I was three."

"I know you got partners; one of them is an older guy. Maybe he started this whole thing." The man reached into the box beside him. "So tell me, _Daniela_... Is this his?" And he slammed dad's journal on the table before her.

Dad's entire demon hunting life. Everything condensed into a single journal. Priceless information. Dad never went anywhere without it.

Dani felt like she had swallow a sock. This was really bad.

"I thought that might be your name," pressed the cop. "See, I leafed through this, what little I could make out. I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy. Bu I found this, too." He opened the journal and flipped through the pages until he found the one he was looking for and showed it to her.

On the page, written inside a circle, read ' _Daniela 35-111_ '. Dani's brain went WHAM. Co-ordinates.

"Now, you're staying right here till you tell me exactly what

the hell that means."

Dani stared at the journal. Guess she'd be staying there for a while then. She cleared her throat. "It's my... high school locker combo."

The policeman paced around. He was about to say something when another cop entered the room and said, "We just got a 911. Shots fired over at Whiteford Road."

The two cops left her alone then. That's when Dani noticed the paper clip sticking from dad's journal. Perfect.


	3. Let There Be Fire

_"How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." (Genesis 28:17)_

When Dani was out, she rang Sam one more time. "Fake 911 phone call, Sammy? I don't know, man, that's pretty illegal."

"You're welcome," he said.

"We gotta talk," she told him.

"Tell me about it. I went to see the husband. He was unfaithful, just like the story of the woman in white. Now, he told me Constance's buried behind her old house. So that should have been dad's next stop."

Dani tried to cut him off. "Sammy, would you shut up for a second-"

"I just can't figure out why he hasn't destroyed the corpse yet," the boy continued.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone. Dad's left Jericho."

That made him stop babbling. "What? How do you know?"

"I've got his journal."

"He doesn't go anywhere without that thing."

"Yeah, well, he did this time," she answered briefly.

"What's it say?" Sam asked.

"Same old ex-marine crap when he wants to let us know where he's going. I'm not sure where the coordinates lead to yet though."

"I don't understand," mumbled Sam. "What could be so important that dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dani, what the hell is going on?"

Dani was asking herself the same thing. She was getting more and more on edge. All she wanted was to find her dad safe and sound.

She heard a thud and an exclamation from Sam. Very far away, she could hear the Impala's wheels whistling on the asphalt. "Sam?" she called urgently but it didn't matter. Sam gave her no answer and the call ended.

…...

Sam was inside the car clutching his chest and wailing in pain. The Woman in White sat on top of him, that little bitch. Angered erupted inside Dani and she reached for the gun she had stolen from one sleeping cop.

The gunshots streamed through the window and Constance disappeared. When she reappeared on top of Sam, somehow he started up the car and crashed it through the wall of Constance's old house.

"Sam!" shouted Dani. There was a considerable amount of anger in her voice. Her goddamn car, goddamn it! She ran into the house and opened the driver's door. "Sam, you okay?"

"I think," he mumbled. "Help me."

Dani grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the Impala. When they turned, Constance was before them holding a picture of her two kids. She threw the picture on the ground and began moving toward them menacingly.

The three of them were distracted as the lights flickered on and water began leaking down the stairs. Her two children appeared at the top of the stairs, their faces in shadows.

"You've come home to us, mommy," their voices echoed eerily around the house.

Suddenly the kids were behind Constance. She screamed as the children grabbed her and light flashed around them. Mother and kids were drew downwards, leaving nothing behind but a small puddle.

The lights stopped flickering.

"She kept asking me to take her home," muttered Sam. "I guess she was too scared to face them alone."

"You found her weak spot," pointed out Dani. "Nice work, Sammy."

"I wish I could say the same for you," he said. "What were you thinking, shooting Casper in the face, you freak?"

"Saved your ass," shrugged Dani. "Now, if you screwed up my car, I'll kill you!"

Sam chuckled though Dani thought he had no reason for it. She was not kidding.

…...

They happily drove out of freaking Jericho. Sam sat with a map on his lap and a flashlight in hand looking for the right co-ordinates.

"Okay," he said finally. "You're not gonna believe where he went."

Dani glanced at him. She thought there were very little things she wouldn't believe in at this point. "Where?"

Sam looked at her with a strange look upon his face. "Home."

Dani felt like she was falling into an abyss. "What?"

"Yeah. Lawrence, Kansas."

"Unbelievable," she mumbled. Why would he ever want to go there after all these years? They had left nothing behind but death. "Well, then there's where we're going," she said with little certainty.

"The interview's in 10 hours," said Sam carefully. Dani almost punched herself. Of course. How could she had forgotten?

She supposed she had no choice but to take him home. This had been the deal. She had no words to convince him to go with her. She had no way of admitting to him she would rather cut her wrists than go back to Kansas alone.

So back to bloody Stanford University they went. Dani tried to smile and tell him it was fine but she couldn't. She didn't feel fine at all.

Without a word, Sam got out of the car. "You'll call me if you find him?" he asked. Dani merely nodded. She was afraid if she opened her mouth she'd end up begging him to stay with her. "Maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?" her brother suggested. Dani nodded again, more enthusiastically this time.

Sam turned around and started walking away. How she hated watching people go. Unable to help herself, Dani called after him. Sam stopped and turned back to face her.

"We make a hell of a team, right?" she said, needing the reassurance that it wasn't all in her mind. "We always have."

Her brother smiled. Her beautiful baby brother. The moment felt so precious. It brought so many good memories back. How she earned for just a little of how things used to be between them. "Yeah."

Then the moment passed and Sam walked inside the house, back into his ordinary life, leaving Dani alone, making clear how unwelcome she and the other monsters were in here.

Dani took a deep breath. She would not cry. It didn't matter if Sam wasn't going to be with her. She would find dad. That brought her little consolation, but it was something.

Then she heard the scream. The acute, desperate scream. The kind of scream that only comes out of a person in deadly wrong experiences.

Dani jumped out of the car and kicked the house's door down. She could hear Sam's voice coming from upstairs. When she found him, Dani could not believe her eyes.

Sam was on the ground helplessly looking up. Jessica was on the ceiling, flames licking her body, consuming everything. For the first time in her life, Dani felt like she had stepped into a horror movie. Nothing made sense. And at the same time, the scene was so familiar it freaked her out.

The fire was getting more and more intense just as Sam's shouts. Dani lunged forward and grabbed her brother and had to carry him out of the room. Sam struggled, cried, shouted and called his girlfriend, but both of them knew it was to no avail.

The whole room erupted into flames.

It didn't take long for the fire department to arrive and extinguish the blaze. But, of course, for Jess it was too late. Sam was in shock. He sat on the ground and didn't move, didn't talk. He simply watched as the love of his life burned away.

Dani watched the crowd moving. Oh, that dreadful night. The memories still so alive. Never, she thought, she would find herself in this same situation. If there was a God... what the hell was he doing?

Dani held her brother and tried to give him as much comfort as she could. She saw the hurt and desperation in his brown eyes and wondered if she had looked like this all those years ago. Dad certainly had.

Everything was changed now though everything seemed the same. This demon, this thing, had now taken more than Sam could do without. Dani studied her brother and thought she was seeing her dad.

A lover gone. A man left with nothing but the need of revenge. He would do whatever it took now, wouldn't he? Like dad had. He wasn't going to rest until this had ended. She could almost hear him swear.

Just like dad had.

…...

He woke up sweaty and breathing heavily. Dani watched him wearily. Every night since that night, Sam had had nightmares. She didn't know what they were about. Hell, she didn't think she wanted to know.

They stuck around Stanford for a whole week before she finally convinced Sam to leave. They dug around and came up with nothing. Sam acted very weird the entire time, but she assumed it was the hurt, the pain.

More than anything, he wanted to find the thing that had done this to his girlfriend. At the end, both of them agreed that to get to it, they had to find dad first. His disappearance and the demon showing up after twenty years could not be a coincidence.

Dani was so sure dad would know what to do. He always did. He had the answers for everything. He always knew exactly what was going on and how to stop it. She needed to find him now more than ever.

"You okay?"

Sam rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat. "Fine."

"Wanna drive for a while?" she offered, not sure of what to say.

Sam glanced at her like she had asked if he wanted to bathe on the blood of his enemies. She immediately regretted the offer. "In your whole life you never once asked me that."

Dani tried to shrug. "Just thought you might want to. Never mind."

Sam sighed. "You're worried about me." It wasn't a question. "I need to tell you something."

Dani looked up, suddenly worried. "What is it?"

Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Okay. I know this is going to sound crazy, but... the nightmares I'm having... they're not all about Jessica. The people who are living in our old house... I think they might be in danger."

"Why do you think there is people living in our old house?" Dani had always assumed the house had burned down and hoped nobody had tried to rebuild it.

"Look, Dani... My nightmares... sometimes they come true."

Dani was glad the road was empty or she might have ran over a wild cow or something. "Come again?"

"Look I... I dreamed about Jessica's death for days before it happened," he confessed, his voice hoarse. Dani thought it was time for a pep talk.

She stopped the Impala in the middle of the road and turned to face him. ""I hate to see you like this, Sam. It has to stop. The nightmares, and calling her name out in the middle of the night... it's going to kill you. It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could've done."

"I could've warned her," he said, his eyes cast down.

"You didn't know-"

"Why aren't you listening to me?" he snapped. "I had nightmares of her dying! I had them for days before she died! I was so desperate to ignore them, to believe they were just dreams. How could I leave her alone to die?"

The tears in his eyes made Dani have to fight her own emotions. "Sam-"

"I dreamed about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire. Everything, Dani. And I didn't do anything about it because I didn't believe it. And now... I'm dreaming about that house, about _our_ house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. That's where it all started! This has to mean something, right?"

Dani found his desperation to be somewhat contagious. "I don't know," she said weakly.

"This woman might be in danger. This might even be the thing that killed mom and Jess."

"All right, slow down," she asked massaging her temples. "First you tell me that you've got the Shining. And then you tell me that - Goddamn it!" she exploded. "You and dad... you just... I swore to myself I would never go back there. Now, I'm being forced to return and you're telling me I have to save some woman I don't know? When mom didn't have a chance?"

Sam just stared at her and Dani knew he wasn't feeling so good about this either. This was too much. And dad... he had warned her, hadn't he? How did he know this was going to happen to Sam? And... _what_ was happening to him?

That's what Kansas was. This chaos. This inability of keeping control. Everything was wrong in Lawrence, _fucking_ Kansas.

Dani took a deep breath. "Well, we're going there anyway. Hopefully we can find dad and see what's going on in the- in that house."

Sam nodded looking thankful.

…...

She sat in the car staring out a place they never thought she would have to come back to. She wasn't even sure she could get out of the car if she wanted to.

The house, that all too familiar house, looked exactly the same. The sons of bitches had rebuilt it just like it was before. White, two stores high, with a picket fence and everything.

"You gonna be all right?" asked Sam watching her carefully.

Dani couldn't take her eyes off the house. "Lemme get back to you on that."

Her brother got out of the car and she decided to follow him. He walked straight to the front door and knocked. The door was answered by a tall, blonde, young woman. "Yes?" she inquired.

Dani cleared her throat. "Sorry to bother you, ma'am. We're with the federal-"

"I'm Sam Winchester," said Sam cutting her off. "And this is my sister, Dani. We used to live here. We were just driving by and we were wondering if we could come see the old place."

"Winchester," the woman repeated as if the name was familiar to her. "That's so funny. I think I found some of your old photos the other night."

Dani's heart raced. "You did?"

The woman looked over her shoulder a little unsure. Then she said, "Okay. Come in." And stepped back to allow them inside. Dani felt like she had just stepped into one of her own nightmares. Everything about that night came rushing back, slamming her in the face, trying to get her to collapse.

A small voice came from the kitchen. "Juice, juice!" The woman headed that way and they followed her closely. There was a small kid on the ground, bouncing up and down excitedly, and a young girl sitting by the dinner table doing homework or whatever.

"That's Richie," the woman said. "He's kind of a juice junkie. I'm Jenny, by the way," she added as she grabbed a juice box from the fridge and handed it to the kid. "And that's Sari. Sari, this is Sam and Dani. They used to live here."

The girl said hi to them.

"So you just moved in?" asked Dani, trying to keep her attention on anything that wasn't her memories.

"Yeah," said Jenny. "From Wichita."

"You got family here, or...?"

"No, I just.. erm... needed a fresh start. New town. New job. New house." Her smiled faltered but she tried to disguise it.

"How you liking it so far?" asked Sam.

Jenny grimaced. "Well... All due respect to your childhood home... I mean, I'm sure you have lots of happy memories here, but this place has its issues."

"Tell me about it," mumbled Dani.

"What do you mean?" asked Sam.

"Well, it's getting old," shrugged Jenny. "Like the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly."

"That's too bad," said Dani and she meant it. There was this weird fear in the pit of her stomach. The fear that the thing that killed her mom, whatever it was, could still be here. "What else?"

"Erm, sink's backed up. There's rats in the basement." Jenny shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain."

"No," said Dani, now determined to get more information out of her. "Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?"

Jenny knit her eyebrows. "Just the scratching, actually."

"Mom?" called Sari. Dani focused her attention on the girl. No more than seven years old, she thought. "Ask them if it was here when they lived here."

"What, Sari?" Dani asked quickly.

"The thing in my closet."

"Oh, no, baby," said Jenny embracing her daughter. "There was nothing in their closets, right?" She looked up at them and waited.

"Right," said Sam. "No. Of course not."

"She had a nightmare the other night, that's all," continued Jenny.

"It wasn't a nightmare," the girl argued. "It came into my bedroom. And it was on fire."

Dani felt all the air leaving her lungs. She _so_ hated this goddamn house...


	4. It Walked Before You

_"For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze." (Malachi 4:1)_

Dani stormed out of that house as if the place was indeed on fire. Sam followed her looking excited. "You hear that? A figure on fire." Dani simply could not understand how Sam wasn't freaked out about this whole thing.

"Jenny... That was the woman in your dreams?"

"Yeah. And you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights. Both sings of a malevolent spirit."

Dani stopped walking and tried to stop the flood of thoughts invading her mind. She looked at her baby brother, so big now, so grown up, and having psychic dreams that were fucking coming true.

"The thing in the house," he continued, "do you think it's the thing that killed mom and Jessica?"

"I don't know, Sammy."

"Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been there the whole time?"

Dani shook her head. She wanted to scream 'I don't know, Sammy!", but she knew it would be of little help. Instead, she struggled to keep her emotions in check. "Maybe it was something else entirely," she said sheepishly. "We don't know yet. We shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"Those people are in danger, Dani. We have to get them out of that house."

"And we will."

"I mean now."

"How are you gonna do that, huh? You got a story that she's gonna believe? No, Sam. We need to chill out. If this was any other kind of job... what would we do?"

Sam breathed heavily. "We'd try to figure out what we were dealing with. We'd dig into the history of the house."

So it was possible for everything to get worse. Dani stared at her own shoes. They were very nice shoes, but that wasn't nearly enough to make her feel better. "Except this time we already know what happened."

When she looked up, Sam was closer to her. He looked like he wanted to give her some sort of support but wasn't sure how. Instead, he said, "How much do we know? I mean, how much do you actually remember?"

Dani wasn't sure of how much she could put into words. "I remember the fire. The- the horrible heat. Then I carried you out the front door."

For some reason, Sam hesitated. "You did?"

"Yeah." Dani was sure this was mentioned before. "You never knew that?"

"No," the boy said.

This was not going the way Dani planned. And she couldn't deal with the emotions, not right now.

"And erm..." she cleared her throat. "You know the story as well as I do. Mom was... was..." she stammered, her tongue feeling quite heavy. "Was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time dad found her."

"And he never had a theory about what did it?"

"If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times."

"All right," said Sam, all business. "We have to figure out what happened back then, and see if it's the same thing."

"Okay," she agreed. "Talk to dad's friends, if he has any. Neighbors. People who were there at the time."

Sam gave her a funny look. "Does this feel like just another job to you?"

Dani had no idea how he could ask her that. Maybe she was better at hiding her emotions than she thought. "Let's go," she said simply. Discussing plan tactics in front of that awful house wasn't getting them anywhere.

They got into the car and drove for a while. Driving usually calmed her down. Not this time. Lying that she needed to use the bathroom, Dani stopped at a gas station and while Sam filled the tank, she went around the building and leaned against a wall.

Everything was too goddamn overwhelming. Unable to fight the tears, Dani did the only thing she could think of. She called her dad. Once more, all she got from the number was a voicemail message.

Hearing his voice without having him around made everything a thousand times worse. Her body shook aggressively and she sobbed all the feelings she had been repressing.

"Dad," she cried. "I know I've left you messages before. I don't even know if you get them. But... I'm with Sammy. We're in Lawrence. There's something in our old house. I don't know if it's the thing that killed mom or... or if it's the reason you wanted us to come here, but... Please... I don't know what to do," she admitted. "Whatever you're doing, dad... I need your help. Please."

With shaky hands, Dani ended the call. She had never felt this lost, this helpless before.

…...

Sam found a certain Mr Guenther who owned a repair shop. They went to speak to him immediately. Of course, they didn't tell him who they really were. That would've been too awkward.

"So you and John Winchester, you used to own this garage together?" asked Dani following Mr Guenther to the main area of his workshop.

"Yeah, we used to," he answered. "A long time ago. Matter of fact, it must be twenty years since John disappeared. Why are you cops interested all of a sudden?"

"We're reopening some of our unsolved cases, and the Winchester disappearance is one of them," she said efficiently.

"Well, what do you want to know about John?"

"Whatever you remember. Whatever sticks out in your mind."

Mr Guenther considered it. "Well, he was a stubborn bastard, I remember that. And whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know. It was that whole Marine thing." The man smiled as if the memories brought him happiness. "But he sure loved Mary. And he doted on those kids."

"But that was before the fire," said Sam.

"That's right."

"He ever talk about that night?"

The man seemed uncomfortable. "No. Not a first. I think he was in shock."

"Right," said Sam. "But eventually? What did he say about it?"

Dani fought the urge to covered her ears and sing a lullaby. She did not want to hear that.

"He wasn't thinking straight. He said, uh... he said something caused that fire and killed Mary."

"He ever said what did it?" Dani asked, her words sharp like she had just tried to eat sand.

"Nothing did it," Guenther said with certainty. "It was an accident. An electrical short in the ceiling or walls or something. I begged him to get some help, but..."

"But what?" she asked.

"Well, he just got worse and worse," the man finished with a shrug. How unfair it was to see her father's demise described with that simple movement.

"How?"

"Oh, he started reading these strange old books. He started going to see this palm-reader in town."

That got her attention. "Palm reader? Uh, do you have a name?"

"Missouri something," he replied and his tone of voice said the conversation was over.

Dani and Sam thanked the man and got out of there. "How are we gonna find this Missouri-"

"Mosley," said Dani promptly. "Missouri Mosley."

"How did-"

"Dad's journal," she answered rushing back to the Impala. She grabbed the journal from her bag. "Look at this." Sam approached as she opened the journal. "First page, first sentence."

Sam read it out loud. "'I went to Missouri and I learned the truth'."

"First I thought he meant the state," she confessed. "But it has more entries like that, if you read everything carefully. Sometimes he wrote Missouri Mosley. Still, I didn't realize it was a person."

For some reason, Sam looked upset. "The bastard. Never told us a thing. Raised us with some many secrets."

Dani stared at him. "Just because he didn't share every-"

"Oh, please, you're always the one to defend him. You were his perfect little girl."

"Hey!" Dani hated when anyone referred to her as a 'girl'. "Maybe sometimes he had to raise his voice, but you were out of line. Respect-"

"Like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bow hunting?" Dani thought bow hunting as a very important skill. "And for your information, I did respect dad, Dani. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough."

"What are you even saying, Sammy?" she failed to see how they had ended up having this discussion.

"He was always disappointed in me and he never tried to hide it."

Dani studied her brother more carefully. This was what they were, wasn't it? Sad, hurt. A boy and girl. All alone with their anger.

"Why would you think that?"

Sam threw his hands in the air. "Because I didn't want to bow hunt. Because I wanted to go to school and live my life. Which, in our whacked-out family, made me the freak! Most dads are proud when their kids score a full ride. They don't toss them out of the house!"

Dani remembered that fight all too well. She remembered all the horrible things they had said to each other.

"Truth is, when we finally do find dad, I don't know if he's even gonna want to see me," finished Sam.

Dani sighed. "Dad was never disappointed in you, Sammy. Not ever. He was scared."

Sam faltered in his anger. "What are you talking about?"

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around," she said wondering how come her brother was so blind. College boy wasn't so smart after all. "But even when you two weren't talking, he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."

Sam looked so shock it was almost comic. "What? Why didn't he tell me any of that?"

"It's a two way street, doll," she said entering the car. "You could have picked up the phone."

…...

They sat in the waiting room section of Missouri, the psychic's home. Dani was feeling restless. She kept tapping her fingers on everything she could reach. Then finally, the woman appeared leading one of her costumers to the door.

She was a short black woman with short black hair and a very kind face. "Don't you worry about a thing," she told the man as he stepped out the door. "Your wife is crazy about you."

The guy thanked her and left. After she closed the door, Missouri whistled. "Poor bastard. His woman is cold banging the gardener."

Dani stood up. "Why didn't you tell him?"

"People don't come here for the truth," said the psychic. "They come for good news." She headed back into the back room but stopped when she noticed they weren't following her. "Well? Sam and Dani, come on already. I ain't got all day."

"Well, lemme look at you," she continued when they were all in the back room together. "You two grew up handsomely. And you were one goofy-looking kid," she added to Dani who grimaced. "Sam..." she said softly, taking hold of his hand. "Oh, honey. I'm sorry about your girlfriend. And your father? Missing?"

Dani realized her mouth was open and quickly closed it.

"How did you know all that?" asked Sam who appeared to be just as shocked.

"Well, you were just thinking it just now," the woman answered.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" Dani asked rashly.

"I don't know."

"How can you not know? You're supposed to be a psychic, right?"

That seemed to anger the woman. "Girl, you see me sawing some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room but I can't just pull facts out of thin air! Sit, please."

Sam and Dani did as they were told. Dani then realized how much her feet hurt. Maybe putting them up for a little while...?

"You put your foot on my coffee table, I'm gonna whack you with a spoon," said Missouri.

"I didn't do anything," she said defensively.

"Well, you were thinking about it."

"Okay," cut Sam who seemed to think they would've argued the entire day if he didn't stop them. "So, our dad... when did you first meet him?"

"He came for a reading," the psychic answered focusing her attention on him. "A few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say I drew back the curtains for him."

"What about the fire?" asked Dani. "Do you– Do you know about what killed our mom?"

"A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing."

"And could you?" asked Sam.

"I don't..." she hesitated.

"What was it?"

"I don't know. Oh, but it was evil," she managed to say. She didn't seem ready to say anything else, so Sam took the moment to explain what was going on and what they were doing there. "So you think something's back in that house?" she asked when he was done.

"Definitely."

"I don't understand," she mumbled talking to herself.

"What?" he asked.

"I haven't been back inside but I've been keeping an eye on the place and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it acting up now?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. But dad going missing and Jessica dying, and now this house.. all happening at once. It just feels like something's starting."

Dani crossed her arms over her chest. "Now that's a comforting thought."

…...

They decided the best thing they could do was to take Missouri to the house and let her _'feel'_ the place. Dani doubted Jenny would be happy to have them invading her house again, specially with a so called psychic.

She answered the door looking extremely freaked out. Her hair was tangled and she seemed anxious. She held her son in her lap as if afraid to be parted from him. "Sam, Dani. What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Jenny," said Sam. "This is our friend, Missouri."

"We were hoping to show her the old house," Dani butt in. "You know, for old time's sake."

"This isn't a good time," she said. "I'm kind of busy."

Well, like they cared what she was doing. "Listen, Jenny, it's important-" Dani stopped talking when Missouri smacked her in the back of the head.

"Give the poor girl a break. Can't you see she's upset? Forgive Daniela. She means well. She's just not the sharpest tool in the shed."

She was so picking on Dani.

"We are here about the house, honey," continued Missouri.

"What are you talking about?"

"I think you know. You think there's something in this house. Something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?"

Jenny seemed taken aback. "Who are you?"

"We're people who can help. Who can stop this thing. But you're gonna have to trust us just a little."

Reluctant, Jenny allowed them inside. Dani felt bad for her. The kid wouldn't stop staring. He was so small. Blonde of hair and blue of eyes. Something inside of her whispered 'adorable.' Dani had to push the thought away. She couldn't not go there, not today.

Still, the red cheeks attracted her. "Cute kid," she said when Jenny noticed she was staring.

"Thanks," she said suspiciously.

Dani tried to smile. "Kids are the best, huh?" Her fake enthusiasm didn't fool anybody.

Missouri walked away with Jenny. Sam chuckled. "Kids are the best? You don't even like kids."

"I love children," she lied.

"Name three children that you even know," he dared.

Dani's hands began to shake. _Don't think about it_ , she told herself. _It'll do you no good_.

"I guess I can't," she told Sam, and she swallowed the one name at the tip of her tongue.

They found Missouri and Jenny in Sari's bedroom. As they walked in, Jenny took her kids downstairs. "If there's dark energy around here, this room should be the center of it," the psychic was saying.

"Why?" asked Sam.

"This used to be your nursery, Sam. This is where it all happened."

Dani's head immediately went to the ceiling but, of course, there was nothing there. No sign that her mother had been murdered there. Not a single physical memory. Just the ones in her head.

Missouri went around the room touching random objects. After a while, she finally spoke again. "I don't know if you should be disappointed or relieved but this ain't the thing that took your mom."

"Are you sure? How do you know?" asked Sam.

"It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here. It's something different."

"What is it?" asked Dani frowning.

Missouri opened the closet door and stepped inside. "Not it. Them. There's more than one spirit in this place."

"What are they doing here?"

"They're here because of what happened to your family," she explained as if it was the most obvious thing. "You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds. And sometimes wounds get infected."

"I don't understand," said Sam.

"This place I a magnet for paranormal energy. It's attracted a poltergeist. A nasty one. And it won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead."

"You said there were more than one spirit," offered Sam.

"There is. I just can't quite make out the second one."

Dani took a deep breath, her mind resolute. "Well, one thing's for damn sure. Nobody is dying in this house ever again. So how do we stop it?"


	5. Mother Of All Living

_"In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." (Proverbs 12:28)_

Sam and Missouri were at the dinner table wrapping up bundles of herbs. Dani helped them for a while but soon discovered her mind to be somewhere else. Again.

She headed to the living room where she found little Sari on the ground drawing. Her mom and her brother were watching her from the couch. All her drawings were that of a man.

"What's that about?" Dani asked Jenny. The woman had such a familiar look in her eyes. That weight she was carrying – it looked exactly like the ones Dani carried herself.

"My husband died in Wichita. Hit his head and drowned. Sari was with him."

Dani clutched at her own chest; her heart seemed to be aching.

"When I think about what she went through..." continued Jenny, tears in her eyes. "It's just... What she had to see..."

Yeah, Dani thought. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over.

"Kids are strong," she told Jenny. "You'd be surprise what they can deal with." She gave Sari another glance. "Do you mind if I sit with her?"

Jenny seemed surprised but shook her head. Dani walked over to the girl and sat on the ground beside her. "Hey, Sari."

"Hi," the girl answered shyly.

Dani went through the pile of pictures Sari had drawn. "These are pretty good." The girl thanked her. "Can I draw with you for a while? I'm not so bad."

Sari smiled and handed her a piece of paper and a crayon. Dani started drawing the only thing she had to offer – her family.

"So, I... I don't know exactly what happened to your dad," she began. The kid stared at her with tired eyes. "I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something really bad happen to my m-mom. But I know my mom wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day," she confessed, her eyes watering. But for the first time in her life, Dani didn't care. The kid got it. They were the same. "And I do my best to be brave."

Sari just sat there staring at Dani.

"This is for you," Dani finished. She handed her drawing to Sari. "This is my family. That's my dad. That's my—my mom. That's my geek brother, and that's me." Suddenly, the girl bust out laughing. "Okay," Dani admitted. "So I'm a sucky artist."

Smiling, Dani lifted her head to find Sam watching her. The smile disappeared and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Uh, Jenny," said Sam. "We think it might be better if you spent some hours away. Go to the movies or something. By the time you get back, this will all be over with."

Jenny didn't argue though she seemed reluctant. That was fair, Dani supposed. They could be thieves just waiting for her to leave the house so they could take away everything she owned. That would not be surprising.

After mother and children were gone, Missouri explained they were to put the Angelica Root, the Van Van oil and the Crossroad Dirt inside the walls in the north, south, east and west corners on each floor of the house.

"We're gonna be punching holes in the drywall," concluded Dani. "Jenny's gonna love that."

Missouri smiled wickedly. "She'll live."

"And this will destroy the spirits?" asked Sam.

"It should. It should purify the house completely. We'll each take a floor. And we work fast. Once the spirit realizes what we're up to, things are gonna get bad."

Things already felt pretty bad.

Dani stayed in the kitchen as Sam went upstairs and Missouri down to the basement. She grabbed a small axe and tapped the kitchen wall looking for a hollow spot. Dani punched the smallest hole she could, she didn't want poor Jenny to be left with a house full of damage.

She squeezed the herb bundle through the hole when the sound of soft scraping caught her attention. Her first instinct was to duck. Dani was glad to find her first instinct to be right – a freaking knife had come flying to where her head was a minute ago.

Crouching on the floor, Dani turned the dinner table over like a shield. That was her second instinct. Seconds later, the inside of the table was embedded with knives.

 _Things are gonna get bad_. Thanks Missouri.

Assuming there were no other knives to be thrown at her, Dani stood up and rushed out of the kitchen. Her third instinct, there it was – to make sure Sam was okay.

She found him on the ground of the master bedroom. The wire from a night table lamp trying to strangle him. Sam was struggling against the wire but his face was starting to go blue.

Dani knelt beside her brother and tried to help him fight against the wire. But no matter how much they pulled, the wire wouldn't budge.

Desperate, Dani moved to the wall where Sam had made a hole but failed to place the herb bundle inside. She grabbed the thing and shoved it inside the wall.

A blinding blue light shot through the house, cleansing it, Dani hoped. She ducked and covered her eyes. The minute the light faded, she scrambled back over to Sam and took the wire from he neck. The boy gasped for air. Dani sat him up and couldn't help herself – she had to hug him tightly.

When Sam's breathing returned to normal, he sat down beside Dani looking at her strangely. "You know, um... I heard what you said about mom," he confessed and Dani felt that uncomfortable feeling creeping up inside of her. "You never told me that."

Dani shook her head, trying to calm herself from the shock of almost watching her brother die. Again.

"It's no big deal," she brushed it off, but Sam kept staring at her with those doopy eyes of his. "Oh, God," she added. "We're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?"

Sam laughed. "I wanna find dad," he told her. "I wanna apologize to him."

"For what?"

"All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could."

Dani felt a strange warm feeling. This was everything she wanted. Her, Sam and dad, all together, nothing in their way. Especially not themselves.

"Don't worry, Sammy. We'll find him. And you'll apologize. And then... within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throat."

Sam seemed to consider the matter. "Yeah, probably," he concluded.

…...

So much for not wanting to leave poor Jenny with a house full of damage. The three of them stood in the mess that was the kitchen. The floor was covered in food, the drawers were open, the furniture was upturn.

"Are you sure this is over?" asked Sam, uncertainty in his voice.

"I'm sure," said Missouri. "Why? Why do you ask?"

Sam seemed to just realize how he had sounded. "Never mind. It's nothing."

Jenny chose that moment to come back home. She walked into the kitchen with Ritchie and Sari and her mouth dropped open. "What happened?" she demanded.

"Hi," said Sam. "Uh... sorry. We'll- We'll pay for all this," he promised. Dani glared at him. She was all for helping Jenny, but they didn't exactly had paying jobs.

"Don't you worry," added Missouri. "Dani's gonna clean up this mess." Dani turned her glare at the psychic. "Well, what are you waiting for, girl? Get the mop!" Dani looked around for a goddman mop. She doubted she could argue with the goddamn woman. "Don't cuss at me!" complained Missouri, probably knowing what she was thinking.

Dani walked away, still looking for a mop, and cussing under her breath.

Once the house was clean, they finally left. Sam and Dani sat inside the Impala, resting. Dani was exhausted and all she wanted was a shower and a soft bed, but Sam insisted to keep watch over the house for a little longer.

"I still have a bad feeling," he kept saying.

"They're gonna be fine," Dani answered with a yawn.

"Probably," said Sam. "But I'd like to make sure, that's all."

"Yeah, well, problem is – I could be sleeping in a bed right now." She slouched back and closed her eyes. Yeah, guess she could work with that.

Then Sam shouted her name and jumped out of the car. Dani opened her eyes and saw Jenny pounding against the window of the master bedroom. Her mouth was open, she was obviously screaming for help.

Dani ran inside the house after Sam. "Get the kids," she told him. "I'll get Jenny." She climbed the stairs as fast as she could just to find the bedroom door impossible to open. "Jenny?" she called.

"I can't open the door!" Jenny shouted.

"Stand back," ordered Dani. Time to ruin her favorite boots. Dani kicked the door open like it was nothing and prayed her heel was still intact. "Come on," she said grabbing Jenny by the arm and dragging her out of the room.

"My kids!" the woman shouted, pulling against Dani.

"Sam got the kids," Dani assured her. "Now come on!" They reached the yard but Sam wasn't there. Dani's heart threatened to leap out of her chest. They waited five seconds and then Sari came running out of the house holding her brother's hand.

The scene was almost too much for Dani. She saw herself, four years old, struggling with her baby brother's weight, going carefully step by step down the stairs like her father had ordered her to.

She fought to stay in the present.

"Sari, where's Sam?" she asked as the kids ran to their mother.

"He's inside," the kid cried. "Something's got him."

Not again, begged Dani.

She ran to the Impala and opened the trunk. Ignoring the people who were now coming out of their homes to see what was happening, Dani grabbed a shotgun and some salt bullets and ran back inside the one place she hated the most in the world.

"Sam!" she yelled. Sam was pressed against the kitchen wall. Something seemed to be holding him there. Then the figure appeared. This humanoid thing, this ghost, engulfed in flames, walked straight to her brother.

Dani positioned herself between the two and pointed her shotgun at the thing.

"Don't!" cried Sam.

Dani didn't even look back at him. "Why the fuck not?"

"Because I know who it is," he said and there was an edge to his voice. "I can see her now, Dani."

And then it happened. The figure took another form. Rosy skinned, golden hair, bright eyed – the form of Mary Winchester. The shock hit Dani like a wrecking ball. The air left her lungs and she made the most undignified whimpering sound.

It was almost like looking into a mirror. They were the same height, same body type, same everything. Mary Winchester stepped forward as if she wanted to touch Dani but she couldn't. She wasn't _really_ there.

"Daniela," she said, her voice strong yet gentle. Then she turned to her son. "Sam. I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, tears welling in the back of his eyes. But Mom didn't answer. She turned her back at them, at her children, so she could do what she had come here to do.

"You get out of my house," she said to the ceiling. "And let go of my son." She was engulfed back in flames just as suddenly and shoot up through the kitchen ceiling.

The house turned quiet. Sam collapsed from the wall. Dani, her hands shaking, looked around the room. No. She was not done. She needed another minute. Just one more moment with her mom. There were so many things she needed to ask her. _Oh, God, grant me another minute with my mom_.

"Now it's over," announced Sam. He walked over to Dani and touched her shoulder. She immediately backed away from him and tried to dry her eyes. "Hey... It's me, Dani. You can cry in front of me. I won't think any less of you."

Dani ignored him. She appreciated the thought, but it was impossible. This was her baby brother. How many times had she wanted to cry but stopped herself remembering that she needed to be strong for his sake. Mom wanted her to be brave, right?

When it came to emotional issues, Dani preferred to stay distance. She didn't want him to see the truth because she was terrified of the truth herself. She feared he would see, that he would eventually realize he couldn't depend on her. That she was weak and unable to protect himself like she swore she would.

Later in life, when all of this was over, Dani would realize how foolish she was. That the bravest thing you could do was ask for someone's help. But tonight, she was condemned to feel alone and misunderstood. "I'd die for you, Sam," she said. "But there are things I rather keep to myself."

…...

When morning came everyone was feeling a little bit better. Jenny gifted Dani with the pictures she had found in the house – the Winchester family pictures. Dani was so glad she considered kissing the lady. Then she thought that wouldn't be the right move.

"Thanks for these," she said instead.

"Don't thank me," said Jenny. "They're yours." She was about to walk away inside the house when Sari stepped forward and hugged Dani by the waist. The feeling was such a strange one, yet somewhat familiar. But Dani would not think about _him_. She would not.

"I'll be brave," the little one whispered and Dani smiled.

"Well," said Missouri coming out of the house and looking pleased. "There are no spirits in there anymore. This time for sure."

"Not even my mom?" asked Sam.

"No," said the psychic.

"What happened?"

Missouri studied him for a moment. "Your mom's spirit and the poltergeist's energy, they canceled each other out. Your mom destroyed herself going after the thing."

However sad that made Dani feel, she still had trouble hiding the smile. That sounded exactly like something Mom would do.

"Why would she do something like that?" inquired Sam.

"Well, to protect her children, of course." That seemed to hit Sam hard. He looked away from them. "I'm sorry," added Missouri.

"For what?" he asked.

"You sensed it was here, didn't you? Even when I couldn't," she guessed.

Sam looked back at her. "What's happening to me?" This time, Dani saw perfectly clear the boy she remembered. Scared, unsure, confused. But even though she yearned to comfort him, Dani didn't have the answers for his problems.

"I don't know," said Missouri. And with a soft sigh, she walked away.

Sam said goodbye to Jenny and the kids, and he and Dani entered the car. Brother and sister stared at each other.

"I don't think dad's ever been here," Dani admitted.

"Then let's go," said Sam. "Let's find dad. We don't have any more time to lose."

In a slow motion, Dani handed him dad's journal. "This is dad's single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here.

And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business."

Sam didn't seem excited at all by the possibility. "I think we need to find him, Dani. Why -why doesn't he call us? Why doesn't he tells us what he wants? Tell us where he is?"

"I don't know. But we will find him, Sam. What I'm trying to say is... is that it might take a while. You need to have patience."

"Alright," he said. "I will. I guess our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others."

Dani smiled. That's what she wanted to hear. "You know what else's cool? Killing as many evil sons of bitches as we possibly can."


	6. Contempt Of The Proud

_"Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud." (Psalm 123:4)_

Sam had insisted on driving. Dani had reluctantly handed him the keys of the Impala. It didn't take her long to trust her brother with her precious car. He drove it fabulously. Dani even ventured a nap.

"Mornin', sunshine," shouted Sam five minutes after she had closed her eyes. Or it felt like it. Dani woke up feeling like shit. It was still dark.

"What time is it?"

"About 5:45."

"Goddamn, Sam. Did you get any sleep last night?" Dani yawned watching him. Sam didn't answer her. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

He shrugged. Dani knew the truth. He had been avoiding sleeping so he could avoid the nightmares. Dani had hoped he'd get better. But whatever he saw when he closed his eyes just wouldn't leave him alone. "I appreciate your concern, but-"

"Oh, I'm not concern about you," she lied. "But you're driving my car. I need you sharp."

A tiny smile played in his lips. Dani was thankful for this little moments in which he allowed himself to smile. It was getting more and more rare.

…...

The next hour Dani desperately flipped through dad's journal in hope to find something, anything that could bring them closer to finding him. It was about time, she knew. This game they were playing, it was getting harder and she was getting more and more tired. Dani considered herself strong, but the more days she spent searching for her father the weaker she felt.

"Found anything?" Sam asked for the fourth time.

"Besides a whole new level of frustration? No. I love the guy, but I swear he writes like friggin' Yoda."

Sam tapped the wheel with his fingers like he did whenever he felt uneasy. "Maybe we should call the feds, Dani. File a missing person's."

Dani shook her head. "We've talked about this, Sammy. Dad's be pissed if we put the feds on his tail."

"I don't care anymore," he said. "After all that happened back in Kansas... he should've been there, Dani. You said so yourself. You've tried to call him and nothing."

"I know-"

"He could be dead for all we know."

Dani snapped the journal closed. "He is not dead, Sam! He is - he is-"

"He's what? He's hiding? He's busy?" Sam shook his head. Dani realized she was not the only one who had had enough. But she couldn't let him see her despair. If he sensed any weakness in her, Sam would try his best to convince her to do whatever he wanted.

So Dani took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. "Sam, this is dad we're talking about. He's fine."

He didn't look at all convinced. Dani didn't blame him. She was having trouble convincing herself.

…...

The cellphone rang in the middle of the night.

"Dani," Sam said.

Dani mumbled. She was still too sleepy for whoever it was. She was having a lovely dream. They were all together, the four of them, having a boring family picnic. How she longed for boring. For the perfume of the flowers, for birds chirping, for them having one good day without drama, without pain, without hurt.

She heard Sam stirring. "Hello." There was a pause. "Dad? Are you hurt?"

Dani thought there was a high possibility she was still dreaming, so she didn't move. Maybe she wanted her dad to show up so bad that she was imagining conversations that would never happen.

"We've been looking everywhere for you. We didn't know where you were, if you were okay." - another pause - "We're fine. Dad, where are you?"

Dani opened her eyes, suddenly alert. Dad was calling them. Their actual dad. He was alive, he was fine, and he was calling them. Surely everything would be fine now. They would go back to normal. Well, their normal.

"You're after it, aren't you? The thing that killed mom." Dani stood absolutely still as if she could hear her dad if she didn't move. "- A demon? You know for sure?"

Suddenly a fear took over her. She knew why he was calling. He would order them to go somewhere and then disappear again. She couldn't let him disappear again. She doubted she could bare it. Dani sat up, staring at her brother. "Let me talk to him, Sam. Give me the phone."

Sam ignored her. "You know where it is? Let us help." John said something. "Why not?"

"Give me the phone, Sam," she demanded. There had to be something she could say that would make him turn up. He wouldn't ignore her, would he?

"Dad, talk to me. Tell me what's going on."

"Give me the phone!" Dani snatched the phone from Sam. "Dad? Where are-"

Her father's voice was firm and resolute. "Dani, I need you to go investigate something for me."

There it was and that was it. No information, no questions, no nothing. Just a pure simple order. And Dani knew what her answer would be even before her mouth moved.

"Yes, sir."

…...

Sam drove the car, but he was going slow. He kept glancing at Dani and she knew he had something he needed to say but wasn't quite sure how to start. Oh, boy.

"What?" she said giving him the opening he wanted. "Something you want to say to me?"

Sam hesitated. "When are we going to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Dani doubted she wanted to hear whatever Sam needed to say. She had already scolded herself a thousand times. She didn't plead with her dad, she said nothing to him. She just agreed to whatever he wanted. Like usual.

"The fact that dad is not going to be there. He called from a payphone, Dani. Sacramento area code." Dani had no idea when he had had the time to check that out or if it was just something he knew but it didn't matter.

"He wants us to-"

"It doesn't matter what he wants," cut Sam.

"See, that attitude right there? That is why I always got the extra cookie," she joked.

Sam was not amused. Abruptly, he turned the car off to the side of the road and shut the engine off.

"What are you doing?" she asked carefully. She recognized the look on his face. A storm was brewing in there. Sam was getting ready for a fight.

"We're going to California."

"Sam-"

"Dani, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help."

Dani felt exactly the same thing. But their dad had been very clear. "Dad doesn't want our help."

"I don't care."

"He's given us an order."

"I don't care," he repeated. "We don't always have to do what he says." She had asked herself that many, many times.

Dani sighed. "Sam, dad is asking us to save lives, to-"

"I understand," he interrupted once more. That was starting to get to her nerves. "But I'm talking one week here, to get answers. To get revenge."

Dani tried to be very patient with her brother. She knew he was hurting. She had hurt for a long time. Maybe the longer you hurt the more used you got to the pain. "I understand how you feel," she said. "But-"

"Do you?" he snapped. "How old were you when mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?" That was precious really. How his pain mattered more. Sam always hurt more, didn't he? His feelings were always the important ones. Whatever anyone else was feeling, they'd have to wait, because Sam was having a real hard time. Dani took a deep breath. That was the last time he'd cut her off.

"Exactly _what_ am I supposed to do?" she asked him.

"I don't know. Something. Anything. Just stop following dad's orders like a good little soldier. Why do you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?"

Dani was so outraged she felt the urge to grab Sam by the neck and squeeze until he had shut his trap. The bastard. Of course he didn't understand. Why could he? He was so certain that dad was disappointed at him that he never even tried to win his approval. But that was because he didn't know. He had been so little. He couldn't remember what happened with the Shtriga. But Dani would never forget it. The look on her father's face. Sam didn't know what real disappointment looked like.

"You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I want to find dad as much as you do? If he says to stay away, Sam, we stay away!"

"I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man!" Sam yelled, exasperated. "It's like you don't even question him!"

"Yeah, it's called being a good child!" she shouted back. The moment she said it, Dani regretted it. "Sam..." but there was no taking it back.

Sam jumped out of the car. She followed. He looked madder than she ever remembered seeing him.

"That's the difference between you and me," he was saying as he opened the trunk. "I have a mind of my own, Dani." The spite in his voice hurt more than he actual words.

Dani's heart raced. There was something ringing in her ears. This was not how things were supposed to happen. "You're a selfish little bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. You don't care what anybody thinks!"

Sam grabbed his stuff. "This selfish bastard is going to California."

"No, Sam!" she shouted with authority. "Get in the car."

"No."

"Sam, this is not a game. I'm leaving."

"That's what I want you to do," he said, his voice cold. He sounded so much like dad it made her head spin.

Dani's hands were shaking. She felt the need to hit something. "Fine!" she shouted. "That's what you do, ain't it? You run away."

His face turned purple. "You don't-"

"Sam gets to go to college! Dani stays home! You don't think I had dreams of my own? Things I wanted to do? But dad needed me. Where the hell were you? Going to pep rallies, no doubt. I'm the one who's been with him every single day for the past four years, Sam! Four goddamn years! And yes, I was happy for you. You could have a life. But me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me. I did everything dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothing, just poof. I gave up everything – everything, Sam, to keep this up. What did you ever give up?"

Her brother somehow looked very small, but Dani was in no position to judge. She could barely see him through her tears. But it didn't matter. She had put everything out there. The truth, for him to see it. She was alone, she would always be alone. No matter how much she dedicated herself to people, they'd always leave her.

Shaking everything off, Dani turned her back at her only brother and climbed back into the Impala. Numb, she drove away.

Through the rear-view mirror she saw him walking his own way. The opposite way.

…...

The abandoned house was falling apart. It was exactly the kind of place nobody wondered into. A perfect place for a rawhead.

According to John, the monster had taken two children that needed saving. It was Dani's job to get them out.

She pulled out two tasers out of the trunk. A hundred thousand volts. That should do it. That should leave the rawhead extra freakin' crispy. Of course, there was only shot to each of the tasers, so she had to make it count.

She walked cautiously down the stairs, a flashlight in hand. In the basement, she found a small cupboard. There was something inside, she was sure of it.

Dani exhaled sharply and counted to three. Then she pulled the cupboard door open. The thing wasn't inside. Instead, Dani found the kids, cowering in the tight space.

It was a boy and girl. Cute kids, even through the dirt. They stared at her, with fear, with hope.

"Is it still here?" she asked in a whisper. The children nodded. "Okay," said Dani. The boy seemed older, so she turned to him. "Grab your sister's hand. Come on, honey, we gotta get you out of here."

The children came out of the cupboard with shaky legs, but they obeyed Dani without hesitation. She gently pushed them in front of her and told them to get out of the house. They climbed the stairs as fast as their short legs allowed them.

Dani was about to follow them when something grabbed her leg and pulled her down the stairs. Every single part of her body hit the ground. Dani moaned. She grabbed one of the tasers and shoot it. But the monster saw it coming and ducked out of the way.

The rawhead was an ugly thing. Humanoid, but all wrong. Dani could scarcely look at him without her stomach whirling. The thing flew at her, flinging her across the room. She landed in a puddle of water. That ruined her new jeans for sure.

Seeing the creature loam over her, Dani scrambled for the second, emergency taser. She took aim and, unfortunately, failed to see that the rawhead stood in the same puddle as she did.

For the briefest of seconds, she was actually proud she had managed to hit the creature. Then the high current flowed through it into the puddle and into her.

She didn't even see the rawhead going down. Her body tensed and twitched painfully and Dani had no control over it.

Dani felt herself slipping away. But her eyes, though heavy and misty, were still opened. The last thing she saw was Sam.

Her darling, lovely brother. All she wanted was to know he was all right. She hated leaving him though at the time she had been too mad to do anything else. But she needed him, always and forever.

Choices made their lives. He had chosen to go, she had chosen to stay. She had chosen to go back for him and he had chosen to go with her in their next "adventures". Now she had chosen to leave him. Could he choose to come back? Would he?

Always and forever. That's what it said on the back of their family photo, the one John carried inside his journal.

Right before she passed out, Dani wondered if her always and forever would be, in fact, a short one.


End file.
